Defense a focus for Gophers, who have sights set on another streak

Minnesota hosts Ohio State on Thursday.

The Gophers men’s basketball team tends to be a second-half team, and that was the case once again in Sunday’s 81-70 victory over Rutgers at Williams Arena.

The Gophers and Scarlet Knights went into the break tied 37-37 after an evenly matched first half, but the Gophers opened the second frame on an 8-0 run and took a lead as large as 17 points in the second half. 

Gophers coach Ben Johnson, point guard Elijah Hawkins and forward Pharrel Payne all cited an improved defensive effort as the reason for the second-half run. Minnesota was particularly effective at guarding Rutgers' leading scorer Jeremiah Williams, who was held to just nine points on 2-for-10 shooting Sunday.

Williams had to sit out for the first 20 games of the season for violating the NCAA’s gambling policy, but was ruled eligible on Feb. 2. Before Sunday, Rutgers hadn’t lost since Williams entered the fold, going 4-0 over that time with wins over Michigan, Maryland, Wisconsin and Northwestern.

Minnesota guard Braeden Carrington (4) and Purdue guard Braden Smith (3) force a jump ball during the second half at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind., on Feb. 15, 2024 :: Robert Goddin / USA TODAY Sports

Williams was averaging 14.3 points per game entering Sunday’s contest.

“He was a huge, huge, huge point of emphasis coming into this game,” Johnson said of Williams. “… He’s a huge reason why they won four in a row. And so, he was a major point of emphasis, and I thought multiple bodies on him, I thought Braeden (Carrington) did a great job of just physicality, not letting him get downhill, that’s when he's been really good.”

Nailing down and perfecting their defense has been a focus for the Gophers in recent weeks. As of Monday afternoon, Minnesota ranked 105th in the country in team defense, allowing 69.3 points per game. That’s good for fifth in the 14-team Big Ten.

The Gophers have shown flashes of brilliance defensively. The next step is finding more consistency, stringing to halves together on a night-to-night basis.

“When we can sit down and guard, it gives us a good chance of winning the game. And us being able to do that (Sunday) is definitely a big step,” Payne said. 

The Gophers will face another defensive test when they host former standout Jameson Battle and Ohio State on Thursday at The Barn. Both teams are very different than the two that met on Dec. 3 in Columbus, Ohio, a game the Buckeyes won 84-74.

Since then, Ohio State has fired coach Chris Holtmann and replaced him with interim coach Jake Diebler, who led the Buckeyes to a win over then-No. 2 Purdue in his coaching debut on Sunday. The U, meanwhile, is a much better team than the one that took the court in Columbus on Dec. 3.

“(The coaching chance) doesn’t change how much talent they have,” Johnson said. “Extremely talented team. I think our guys will learn from when we played them the first time in understanding their style and their system.”

Thursday's game will also be crucial for the Gophers if they have any hope of making the NCAA Tournament. They inched closer to the tournament bubble after Sunday's victory, moving from No. 82 to No. 77 in the NET rankings. Ohio State, meanwhile, is No. 62 in the NET, making Thursday's game a Quad 2 opportunity. 

It's a game that's a must win if the U hopes to be dancing in March. The Gophers have just six regular-season games remaining and will need to go on a bit of a run to crack into the tournament bubble. The Gophers have shown they can put a streak together in the Big Ten. They won three straight before their most recent road trip. 

“We’re trying to create another streak and maybe make it even longer than it was before,” Hawkins said.